The Seer and the Sword

Let's do another book review, shall we? This time I promise I'll add more plot and less fangirling. Even though this happens to be another one of my favorites.

The Seer and the Sword, by Victoria Hanley. In it there are two main characters: the spoiled daughter of a successful war-waging king, and the sheltered son of a once-prosperous and kind king. The first king overthrew the second, and offered the thirteen-year-old son as a slave to his nine-year-old daughter. She set him free, prompting her father to rethink his strategy and offer the son a place in his academy for training the best warriors.

The daughter is Torina. The son is Landen. Neither has siblings, both eventually sent into exile. Landen's exile I just told you - the result of a threat from an outside force. Torina's exile comes much later in life, the result of opening a door to an insider threat.

You may be wondering about how the title comes into play. Landen's home country had a legendary sword, and the legend was that any daring to oppose its home country was doomed to failure. Considering I told you up front that Landen's country was lost to another king, are you assuming the legend was a lie? Do not judge so quickly; there's more to it than that.

Moving on to the seer. Torina was given two gifts when her father came back from war: a slave and a crystal. The slave, you remember, she freed. The crystal was truly a gift for her, as the former owner specifically said so to her father during his raid. In the crystal, Torina could see both the future and the past. What she saw of the past was always true. What she saw of the future was always true, unless she acted quickly enough to stop it.

Back to the plot. Torina and Landen soon became secret friends, as you might imagine. Time passed, though, and things got in the way. Torina's memory of him dimmed as she became wrapped up in her suitor. Landen's heart never faltered, and he had some very justified suspicions about Torina's suitor.

Then evil struck. Landen was ready for it - expecting it, really. He tried to warn Torina, but she didn't accept his words as truth in time to prevent evil from succeeding - at least for the moment.

And that is when the story truly begins. Go out and get your own copy and find out what happens. Bookstore, library, garage sale, online, whatever. But I highly recommend you get it from somewhere.